cfauvel

I am restoring two ATV for my bro-in-law and don't have the owners manual...I do have the service manual.

1- when I turn the key to the ON position and the motor NOT running or running....the thermostat light (red light in lower right corner of dash) is on right from the get go....is that normal? 

I suspect that should be off and comes one when the motor is overheating.

NOTE: the fan did come on after driving around a bit.

If that is not normal, what would cause that to be on as soon as the motor is started? Faulty temp/fan switch?

2 - what is the cheapest source for the various parts? I am looking for a speedo cable, and some various screws that hold the fuel tank cover and its side panels on as well as some of the small screw/bolts that hold the front fender.

also looking for some of the speedo gasket and dampers

So I'm working on my bro-in-law's ATVs and the first order of business was to replace severely worn out wheel bearings.

2000-2001 LTA500 quadmaster

in the knuckle are 2 bearings and in between a spacer.

i pressed in the outer bearing, placed the spacer and pressed in the inner bearing...when I noticed that the spacer is pinched by the inner circle of the bearings and I had to gently massage the spacer to be in the middle...

1 - I thought the spacer would be kind of loose until I fastened the large nut onto the CV shaft (through the knuckle)

2 - the knuckle with the bearings doesn't slide onto the hub's spindle...is that normal? I tried the old bearing and it too doesn't slide onto the hub's spindle. Being so tight I am not sure how to put it on except by hammering from the outside.....but if it is this tight going on, how amy going to get it off in the future.

my bro-in-law says that the hub came off the spindle easily, but for him too, when he tried to put it back on it was too tight.

I am contemplating sanding the inner diameter of the front and back bearings until it slides on the spindle, but will wait for reply from you all.

UPDATE: I took one of the old bearing's inner circle and cleaned off the old grease and took 600grit sandpaper and sanded the leading edge of the spindle....the old bearing's inner circle eventually slid pass the leading edge and once farther down seemed to slide easily enough with the most minute of clearance.  For the inner spacer I removed the inner new bearing and used a 7/8" socket to line up the spacer to the outer bearing and pressed the inner bearing in. Once fully seated, as before, the inner circles of the bearings pinched the spacer, but at least it is aligned. 

Question still stands should the spacer be pinched when both bearings are fully seated?